Motivation–Guest Post

I’m super excited to introduce you to our guest–our son, Ephram. Jonathan and Ephram have a weekly commitment in which Ephram reads from a classic book for 30 minutes a day for 3 days, then writes his thoughts on what he read. He specifically looks for leadership traits in the characters. As a reward, Ephram gets 30 extra minutes of screen time.

One of the books he has been reading recently is called Edge by Chris Brady and Orrin Woodward. It is full of short articles and stories and pictures and quotes that are designed to teach young people the principles of self-improvement.

This post is one of the papers Ephram wrote. Please enjoy it and leave a comment with something that motivates you.

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Before I start let me tell you what motivation is. 

The Merriam-Webster’s dictionary says, Motivation is to provide with a motive.

A motive is something like a need or desire that causes you to act. 

Trying to do something without motivation is useless, you’ll get nowhere. Everyone needs motivation. It keeps you going! If you didn’t have motivation life would become boring and bland. You would have nothing to do because nothing is motivating you. 

How can you stay motivated?

Sometimes it’s as simple as keeping the end in mind. Just knowing what the finish will look like, helps you stay committed to the task. 

If that isn’t enough you can provide yourself with a reward; like candy or money.

Here are 5 principles of motivation that can help you stay motivated:

1. If I quit my enemies will rejoice. NEVER STOP TRYING. 
2. Your mind is stronger than your body. Tell yourself to get up keep going even if your body says no.
3. Take life in steps. Break it down. Take it one step at a time don’t overwhelm yourself into quieting. 
4. Don’t go at it alone. Stay humble and remember you always need help. Pride goes before the fall. 
5. You can do whatever you set your mind on. If you want to do something set your mind on it and go achieve that thing. 

FINISH OR DIE TRYING!

(From a talk by Chris Swanson called Motivation)

Remember: leaders stay motivated. 

Keep striving for excellence and you will soon achieve greatness. 

Ephram is 12 years old and loves video games and sports. He enjoys reading classic books, finding leadership principles, and writing about them to earn video game time. Ephram also loves to spend time with his older brother. They like to go on bike rides, play basketball, and wrestle. When he grows up he wants to be a major league baseball player.